The Sapphire Lotus - Wohler Terminal, Kremainn

[[This Topic is for Role Play Related to the Blue Orchid Network, and the Komodo Collective. Anyone is welcome to interact here however, and it's encouraged that those not within the Collective come here as a means of meeting those involved.]]

Wohler Terminal is a mining station, pure and simple to the Federation's eye. The nearby gas giants of Kremainn 1 and Kremainn 2 have rings rich in metal ore and minerals, and with sale prices on minerals above the galactic average; it's a hot spot for commanders looking for honest work, if a bit backbreaking. Also with the various precious metals being exported out of the sector, miners digging for gold and such fill their holds and find better markets to sell at. Wohler is becoming a popular destination for the sale of Palladium and Platinum, as both sell at well over a grand above the galactic average. Wohler slowly is becoming a hot spot for smuggling however. Miners are a rather blue collar lot of pilots, and they tend to have a demand for some of the seedier sides of commerce. Being a Federal station, Wohler has made the trade, and sale of Combat Stabilisers, Narcotics, Tobacco, Personal Weapons, Battle Weapons, Slaves, and Toxic Waste all illegal. Tobacco has an increased demand on station, as well as Narcotics. Slaves have considerable demand amongst the smaller, and less reputable mining companies that have set up shop on Wohler. Also, many a bar fight has lead to guns being drawn thanks to black market weapons. Wohler resembles an old west Boom Town, high on precious metals, and rife with corruption.

On station there's a saloon buried deep and far away from the eyes of any law keeper. It's called the Saphire Lotus, and within it's darkened walls an organization of known smugglers, boot leggers, and claim jumpers have set up shop. The Blue Orchid Network. Not a name that many Commanders are privy too, and the public are even less aware of. Those that deal in the Black Market however, might have heard of them. More than likely they've heard of the Network's rather unique leader. Marik Alhazred, the Smuggler Baron. At least, that's what he'd like to be. Look him up on any database of the Pilot's Federation, and you'll see he's only a Peddler in Trade Rank, and that's about it. You'll also find a rap sheet as long as a cobra is wide. Various fines and bounties listed on him related to smuggling. Everything ranging from smuggling farm animals, to biowaste. The interesting caviot is that they're all well over 10 years old, with a few minor infractions listed within the past few months. Either he gave the smuggling game up, or he got better at it. Currently he's listed as one of the more successful up and coming miners on Wohler Terminal.

However he's managed to string together a network of decently successful ne'er-do-wells to form the Blue Orchid Network, and runs the operation out of the Sapphire Lotus. Wohler Terminal sees it's share of undesirables come and go, and Alhazred makes it his business to welcome those he views as potential candidates to the Network. The network may be small, but Alhazred prefers to sell the low member count as being "Elite," in his own words. A small grouping of specialists that focus on crimes more economic in view than being violent. There's rumor of Network lead violence in and around Wohler Terminal, however none of it is founded and the deaths of those in question are listed as "mining accidents." There's no question that Alhazred is greasing some Federal palms around Kremainn; it's just as to what extent his grasp goes. Known pirates linked to the Relentless Guild can be often seen coming and going from Wohler Terminal, and they are usually found within the Sapphire Lotus when they're docked in station, suggesting his muscle comes from friendships with more notorious groups.

Clearly, there's money to be had within the Blue Orchid Network.

The Sapphire Lotus itself is a dive. Dark, and dank. The Bar lacks stools, and floor tables are ankle high, and pillows act as seats. Every table sports a four pronged water pipe, with a separate menu for various flavored herbs to be smoked from it. The bar offers exotic, but cheap liquors. The whole establishment has an air of the old Middle East. Hardly a place for those of taste or in need of decent company.

It's here that Alhazred and members of his Blue Orchid Network are most likely to be found. Indeed the small crowd within is made up of hard bitten Miners. Openly smoking hand rolled cigarettes and hash. Swapping stories about big hauls, or close calls with asteroids at high speeds. However no one ever crowds around an isolated room in the far corner. A blue draped doorway gives sight into a pillow lined room with one particularly elegant hookah in the center. Usually sprawled on the floor is the gaunt form of Marik Alhazred. Puffing away and overlooking market information and Galnet News on an old holographic tablet.